Hope for the Future
by Travelling Army Brat
Summary: A glimpse into the future of Konoha and its shinobi. Who will have a genin team, who will have risen into positions of power, who has survived... and who has not, and the newest batch of genin, Konoha's hope for the future
1. Chapter 1

_**Hope for the Future**_

And How It Died

Team 1 - Rock Lee

Owaru Kaito- Extrememly low chakra reserves. Uses mainly kenjutsu.

Hyuuga Renji- Typical Hyuuga. Attitude problem. NOT a genius.

Nekora Aya- Comes from a clan that bonds with cats. Uses swords.

Team 6 - Inuzuka Kiba

Ginnosuke Suu- Comes from a civilian family. Very determined.

Karasu- Origins unknown. Wears a hood and hitai-ate over eyes.

Akimichi Kaneshiro- Looks more brawny than fat. Unfortunate bully mentality.

Team 10 - Yamanaka Ino

Kazuhiko Yuki- Second generation ninja. No unique techniques.

Yumeryu Pyon- Clan focuses mainly on genjutsu. Excellent at illusions

Huoji Sakasa- Uses clan jutsu to focus destructive chakra to hands.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, what in the world would I be doing _HERE?!_

--

Chapter 1

--

Silence reigned in the spacious room, the only sound being the occasional hiss from decaying paperwork, giving the casual observer an idea of how long it had been sitting on the corner of the desk, ignored.

Then the silence was broken by a perverted giggle.

The source of this unsightly sound was not one of two white-haired men like you might suspect. Instead, it seemed to emanate from a white hokage tent-hat. And buried deep inside the hat, two keen blue eyes, scrunched up in glee, and a mop of wild blonde hair peeped out.

The council had been furious, but Tsunade had refused to budge. The next Hokage had been chosen, and he was Uzumaki Naruto.

As soon as news and photographs had spread, Iwagakure had declared war on Konoha, apparently offended by his resemblance to his unfortunate father, his status as a jinchuuriki, and just everything in general about the man.

Naruto single-handedly (many-handedly?) defeated their entire army without shedding a single drop of blood. He combined his famed Kage Bunshin with the even more infamous Hiraishin to terrify and browbeat the Iwa army into running back home wetting their pants. He had thousands of clones "flashing" all over the entire field.

His popularity as Rokudaime had skyrocketed, much to the council's utter disgust.

Unfortunately, overexposure to Jiraiya and Kakashi had left its mark on him. The irony that Naruto was now easy prey for his very own first unique jutsu was not lost on anyone, especially Konohamaru.

_Especially_ Konohamaru.

Naruto was carefully monitoring the Hokage tower in case someone came in while he was reading his _Icha Icha Violence_.

Sensing Haruno Sakura's unique chakra signature, he regretfully put it away and gazed at the stacks on his desk waiting to be filed.

His paperwork wheezed at him.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Paperwork does not make noise. It most certainly does not wheeze," he informed the errant piles in his best 'I'm a serious Hokage' voice.

"It does when its suffering from severe neglect apparently," Sakura said from behind his shoulder. "Honestly Naruto, if these were children, you would've been arrested by now."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Naruto waved her off. "Shouldn't you be at the hospital? Don't they run you ragged there even though you practically own the place?"

Sakura shrugged dismissively. "Yeah, usually. But Konohamaru-kun came by and asked me to deliver these for him." She produced an enormous stack of paper from apparently nowhere, and thunked it down on the desk in front of him.

"He just looked so frazzled with all those academy kids hanging off of him, I just couldn't say no!" She said cheerfully.

Naruto collapsed onto his back, his foot pointing towards the ceiling and twitching erratically.

"Oh come on!" Sakura scolded. "Student profiles are interesting! Besides, the genin exams are coming up, so you get to arrange teams and assign senseis."

"Fun." Naruto growled.

As per becoming Hokage, Naruto had come to realize that everything about genin teams and how they were arranged was pure politics. His old team 7 had contained the last Uchiha, which was the only reason they passed the bell test, set up next to the city pariah and a civilian born to make him look good.

Team 8 contained the Aburame and Inuzuka heirs, two clans considered weird or insignificant to the townspeople, next to the Hyuuga heiress, a subtle and very political move designed to show that the clans unique talents were appreciated. Hyuuga Hiashi might not have thought much of his eldest, but to the townspeople she was a princess, and they treated her thus. Placing Kiba and Shino with her was a clever way to gain recognition for their clans.

Team 10 was a tribute to the past and a testament to the effectiveness of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation.

Every single other squad that year had been composed of civilian children, and they had never stood a chance. Naruto assumed this was the council's way of discouraging civilians from becoming shinobi. Sakura... well, Sakura had been a very lucky girl.

Scowling, Naruto looked at the genin wannabe's rosters. "We've got a Hyuuga, maybe we'll pattern this after Team 8," he thought out loud. "A Nekora, she'll do well on his team. And..." Naruto's voice trailed off. A boy, with pitifully low chakra reserves, who could barely perform one bunshin.

Rock Lee had been a jounin for a long time, and had created thousands of devastating taijutsu techniques, and learning almost every style that did not require chakra.

Perhaps it would be better to recreate Team Gai instead of Team 8. He had a feeling Lee would appreciate it. Naruto sighed and began to arrange the other teams.

--

Nekora Aya stifled a sigh of boredom. In less than a week, the genin exam would come up, and something interesting would finally happen. She grinned. When she passed, she would finally get the swords her clan was famous for, and her teeth would be filed down into wicked points.

The small black cat on her shoulders purred in amusement. Aya scowled and tapped her fingers on the desk, irritated.

"Are you paying attention, Aya?" Konohamaru-sensei asked, exasperated.

"Yes sensei," Aya muttered, scowling even more. It was no great secret that the eighteen-year-old chunin held no fondness for his role as academy sensei, and indeed often informed his students that he couldn't wait to make jounin so he could leave the school behind.

A boy in the back row, an obvious victim of an early growth spurt, long and gangly, fidgeted nervously. Owaru Kaito was horribly nervous. It was only painfully obvious that he barely had enough chakra to perform a single, simple henge. He fidgeted with his hands, forming seal after seal but molding no chakra.

He had made a huge mistake. He had been single-mindedly focused on increasing his abysmal chakra capacity for so long; and with so little result; that he had neglected all other areas, such as taijutsu and accuracy, the things that he _could_ do!

He hung his head, sandy hair falling into hazel eyes. He was going to fail.

But he still had a week. Kaito sat up, newly determined. If he could not perform ninjutsu, then he would just focus on taijutsu and find some different way of performing the required ninjutsu.

A boy who might as well have been from another world was sitting perfectly in the middle of the class, not too close and not too far. Unlike Kaito, this one had every confidence in his ability to pass. His cold white eyes alienated him from everyone else, and his haughty, superior attitude had just further estranged him. He had fangirls, but none of them were brave enough to admit it to him.

Renji's forehead was bare, showing that he was a member of the main house. His clothes were loose and baggy, which would help disguise his movements and intent in combat.

He gazed around at his class, never once turning his head or moving his eyes, and could find no one even close to being his equal.

Renji clenched his fist. He might be the rookie of the year, but to his clan such titles meant nothing. To them, he was worse than a failure. He was average.

It had never been heard of before, a Hyuuga heir who was not either a complete failure or a prodigy, sometimes both. Unremarkable. Unimpressive. Skilled enough to be satisfactory for a branch member, but not the heir.

He was not a genius. There were Gentle Fist techniques that it seemed he would never be able to learn. He, along with all the other Hyuuga children, had heard the stories of the amazing Neji, who picked up the clans most secret and difficult techniques merely by watching them. Techniques Renji _could not_ learn, not even with a special tutor.

--

Konohamru sighed as he glanced around at the motley group he was forced to call a class.

Truthfully, he was a little afraid for them. Shinobi as a rule were generally an odd bunch, but this class particularly really took that to an extreme.

There was the bouncing, daydreaming catgirl. The beanpole in the back of his room who had low chakra capacity and an equally low ego. Akimichi Chouji's nephew Kaneshiro, who had somehow missed the kindness and loyalty that his family was trademark for, and was a common bully with some small skills

Karasu (who in the world would name their kid "Crow" anyways?) could possibly have been the weirdest one. In the three years that Konohamaru had known him, he had never once seen his face or heard his voice, hidden deep inside his hood.

Yumeryu Pyon came from an up and coming young clan that focused on obscure and powerful genjutsu techniques. As a boy focused on genjutsu, he was a rarity.

Huouji Sakasa was a third generation Kunoichi. Her grandmother had developed a technique of focusing chakra to the hands in an extremely destructive form. It took an outrageous amount of chakra, and was limited to hand to hand combat. But the girl insisted on relying entirely on the technique, even though she could barely use it.

Hyuuga Renji wasn't so weird, Konohamaru decided. Just another Hyuuga with emotional problems.

All the rest of the students were eerily uniform. Identical skin tones, hair and eye color, smiles... He shuddered. Creepy.

Maybe the Hokage would know what to do with them.

At the thought of his Hokage, Konohamaru's scowl lifted. Much had changed, but Naruto had remained a constant, always there, always encouraging, always smiling. Except now instead of 'demon brat', he was 'Beloved Rokudaime.'

"Just watch out, Naruto," he muttered to himself. "I'm coming to take your job!"

--

Kaito jittered nervously. It was exam day, and he had figured out how to pass.

The soldier pill he had 'picked up' trembled in the palm of his hand, the alluring drug that would at least double his chakra output.

Which would allow him to complete the requirements!

He swallowed it as fast as he could, afraid he would lose his nerve. He didn't know if soldier pills were against the rules, and he didn't want to find out.

"Akimichi Kaneshiro," the teacher's aide called. The hefty boy stood up, cracking his knuckles menacingly at a few of the smaller students, and then obediently disappeared through the door. A mere two minutes later, he strode back through triumphantly, hitai-ate tied around his bicep.

"Huouji Sakasa," was called next. Sakasa stood up and preened for a moment, then stalked in, obviously confident in her abilities. Kaito's restlessness increased, he began tapping his feet.

Beaming smugly, Sakasa strode out again, a hitai-ate tied around her thigh.

"Hyuuga Renji," the teacher's aide droned. He stood up, cast a cold glare at the class, and paced out of the room. He came back out in a few minutes, his hitai-ate on his forehead where it belonged.

Several people turned and glared at Kaito. His nervous habits were getting noisy. He looked up, and grinned sheepishly.

Karasu wandered back in, and looked up. For the first time in six years, his face was partially visible.

His chin was sharp and pointed. His mouth had premature frown lines around it. His nose was small and pert. And he was wearing his hitai-ate over his eyes.

Instantly everybody was gossiping.

"Who would've thought..."

"He's kinda cute..."

"Why is he wearing it over his eyes?

"How can he _see_...?"

"Nekora Aya," was called next. The girl and her cat bounced out happily. Kaito resumed twitching.

"Why are you so nervous, Kaito-_chan_?" Yumeryu Pyon sneered, being sure to emphasize the -chan suffix instead of the appropriate -kun, or -san. "After all, we all know what's going to happen. You're gonna fail, and then no one will have to worry about being stuck with a loser like you on their team! Right guys?" he asked the class. Everybody laughed obediently.

Kaito dropped his head and fumbled with his hands, unconsciously running through the seals.

Aya bounded back into the room and let out a whoop of joy, her hitai-ate bouncing around on her neck as she started to do her own version of the happy dance. Some people rolled their eyes, but most smiled back, especially when the cat, Si, joined in on the fun.

"Owaru Kaito," the teacher called.

Kaito made his way over to the door as fast as he could, deftly avoiding the feet stuck out into the aisle to trip him. He refused to look any of his teachers in the eye as they shut the door behind him.

"Kaito-kun, perform a henge, kawarimi, and create three bunshin," Konohamaru-sensei said in a gentle, letting-you-down-easy voice that was unusual for him.

Kaito took a deep breath and called up his chakra. To his joy, there was indeed more of it, and it was easier to draw upon. "Hardest one first," he muttered, and began making the hand seals for the bunshin. There was a loud pop and a burst of chakra smoke. He looked up hesitantly to see what he had created. Two bunshin, perfect in every way stood to his right side, staring blankly. The third, on his left, was blurry and see-through. Kaito looked at Konohamaru-sensei hopefully.

He deliberated for a moment, then nodded. "Good enough," he said.

Adrenaline and excitement washed over Kaito. "Henge!" he shouted, being careful to use the bare minimum of chakra needed. With a pop, the assistant teacher was standing in his place, grinning.

Konohamaru was impressed. He hadn't thought the kid would be able to do it, but if he kept it up then it would appear that he was wrong!

"Kawarmi!" Kaito shouted, still in henge, and disappeared to be replaced with a perfectly cut log that was apparently just lying around somewhere.

"Good job Kaito! You pass." Konohamaru said. Grinning weakly, Kaito took the proffered Hitai-ate, tied it around his forehead, and dragged himself out the door, to be met with silent outrage from the entire class. He collapsed in his chair, too exhausted to care, while visions of brave shinobi performing heroic deeds filled his mind.

He had done it!

--

Aya almost didn't make it to the Academy the next day. Only sheer force of will kept her feet on the path to where she was going.

Nobody had told her that having your teeth filed _hurts_! In retrospect it was probably for this exact reason that she wasn't told, seeing how she was sorely regretting letting it be done. Her gums had been scraped by the file more times than she cared to count, and her tongue was a mess from all the times she had accidentally bitten it.

She winced as she accidentally bit her tongue yet again.

Trying to distract herself from her misery, she examined her new swords. For now, they were simply thin metal bands wrapped around her fingertips, but by pumping chakra into them, they would extend, lengthening out and becoming ten thin claw-like swords

Si followed Aya warily. She had expected to be riding on her favored perch, Aya's shoulder. However, when making the jump, the top of her head had bumped her human's tender jaw.

After the brief but dramatic scene that had ensued, they both came to the conclusion that it would be best for Si to just walk for today.

They slunk into the classroom, a good fifteen minutes early.

Instantly all pain was forgotten as she was distracted by a blob glowing an eye-scalding shade of orange.

"Aww, come one Konohamaru!" a voice complained, as she patiently waited for her eyes to adjust. "You know I hate brats!"

Someone, presumably Konohamaru-sensei, replied in an amused voice, "You mean brats like me old man? It isn't the kids' faults that you're getting old! Oh, and by the way Aya, you're a little early."

Aya blinked in surprise at the sudden change in topic. "I'mna ear'y Oo're oo?" she snapped unintelligibly.

"Why Konohamaru, you never told me one of your student's has a lisp!" the orange blob cried, bending down so he was on her level; revealing bright shiny teeth, bright blue eyes, bright blonde hair... the man looked entirely too cheerful for Aya's liking.

Narrowing her green slitted eyes, she peeled her lips back and leered at him, exposing her pinkened teeth.

"Wow, you're a mess," the orange man observed. "Normally I'd tell you to just suck it up and deal with it, but I don't want the smell of blood stinking up the classroom, so..."

The man waved a green glowing hand in her face. Si gave a warning yowl and leaped forward as Aya gave a warning yowl and leaped back; when she realized the pain was gone. She prodded her jaw disbelievingly, then did a little victory dance with Si.

The man had turned back to Konohamaru-sensei, apparently not expecting a thank-you. Aya finally got her first good look at him. He was wearing a bright, neon-orange robe with black flames at the hem. Hmm, seemed to ring a bell. Blonde hair, blue eyes, three thin stripes on each cheek that she had just noticed, about six foot three?

He was the Rokudaime. The Rokudaime was in her classroom! The Rokudaime had _talked_ to her! He had even _**healed**_ her! (Insert rabid fangirl scream here)

Before she could melt away entirely into a puddle of girly goo, all the new genin were suddenly pushing past her, shoving rudely, and telling her in no uncertain terms to move it. Si escaped onto her shoulder, tail lashing angrily. Aya was positive that the arrogant Hyuuga had stomped on her foot on purpose.

No matter how rowdy the class was, the Hokage had a definite stage presence (perhaps it was the clothes?) that almost immediately drew all attention to him. As one, the entire class bowed and murmured a respectful, "Hokage-sama,"

The Rokudaime grinned and scratched the back of his head. Konohamaru-sensei stepped forward, and, clearing his throat importantly, announced, "As you all know, today is the day that your lives as shinobi will begin!"

There was a murmur of excitement, as all the new genin glanced at each other and grinned, shifting in their seats.

"As you can see, I managed to convince the Hokage--" Konohamaru-sensei started.

"_Kaff _Blackmail _Kaff_!" the Hokage coughed. A few titters spread through the room, while the rest wondered at their sensei's audacity to blackmail the Hokage.

"_Convince_," Konohamaru-sensei emphasized, glaring around at the class, "The Hokage to come and say a few encouraging words. Hokage-sama, if you will."

The Rokudaime sighed a little. Placing both hands behind his head and staring off into space, he began.

"Being a shinobi is hard," he said bluntly. "It's not glamorous, it's not easy, and a lot of the time it isn't fun either. People _will_ die, and sometimes it will be your fault. In order to keep up, you will have to train yourselves into the ground every day. You have not chosen the easy path, and anyone who thinks that they have needs to leave now. There are no shortcuts to being a good shinobi."

Nobody moved.

"No one? Good! You'll all do just fine!" The Hokage beamed. He then walked back over to Konohamaru-sensei, who seemed to have mysteriously sprouted fangs.

"Encouraging!" he stage-whispered loudly. "Encouraging words! What's so difficult about that concept?!"

The Hokage shrugged. "I decided not to sugarcoat it," he said. Konohamaru-sensei fumed silently.

However, his speech had done its damage. Replacing the sparkling joy of achievement was the nervous tension born of people who do not know what is going to happen next.

The Rokudaime unfolded a crinkled piece of paper from his pocket, and began to read off the teams and senseis, as the tension grew more and more palpable.

"Team One, led by Rock Lee--"

_**SMASH**_

As one, every genin in the room lefted up his or her voice in terror. One particularly unfortunate soul bolted for the door and ran for her life, slowly becoming a small dor on the horizon.

The rest crammed their way into the back of the room, bunched up together for safety.

The object of their terror? A six-foot tall menace to society and all things normal, with his shiny black bowl-cut hair and larger than life eyebrows. He stood among the shattered remains of an innocent window, clad in blazing green spandex, contorted into the most uncomfortable pose the young innocents had ever seen.

"Calm down kids, it's just Rock Lee and his dynamic entry." Konohamaru-sensei said calmly, as if such things happened every day.

"YOSH! THE FIRE OF YOUTH BURNS BRIGHTLY IN THIS CLASS, KONOHAMARU-SAN! I AM HERE FOR TEAM 1!!!" he bellowed, rattling the remaining windows in their frames.

"You're a little early, Lee-san," Konohamaru said kindly. "Why don't you wait outside for a few minutes, and then come back in a little more quietly?"

"I SHALL STRIVE -- oops! I mean, I shall strive to follow your instructions, or I will run --"

"Yes yes," Konohamaru said, shutting the door in his face. "Now then, Na- er, Hokage-sama, why don't you continue?"

The Rokudaime peeled his face off of his palm and looked at the class huddled in the back of the room.

"As shinobi, you will come across people much more frightening than him," he pointed out.

The class remained mute and immobile.

He sighed and plowed on anyways.

"Team one, led by Rock Lee," he read, raising his voice to be heard over the pandemonium and horror. "Nekora Aya."

He waited for the echoes from her anguished scream to die down.

Owaru Kaito," he continued. Kaito put his head in his hands. Obviously this was a punishment. They had figured out he cheated, and were punishing him.

"And Hyuuga Renji," he finished.

An audible snap echoed through the room as the pencil the hyuuga had been holding disintegrated in his fist.

The rest of the class however, breathed a long sigh of relief, looking happier and happier as more teams were announced.

"Team six, led by Inuzuka Kiba, Ginnosuke Suu, Karasu, and Akimichi Kaneshiro." Poor Suu shrank into her seat, giving the bully a fearful glance. Kaneshiro leered. Karasu didn't respond, and instead gave a rather remarkable impression of a tree.

The Rokudaime took no notice of their varied responses or lack thereof, and forged onwards, until he reached the last squad. "Team 10, led by Yamanaka Ino, Kazuhiko Yuki, Yumeryu Pyon, and Huouji Sakasa."

"Guess that's my cue," a sourceless voice echoed around the room. A tall, well-endowed blonde woman appeared amid a swirl of leaves. "Yamanaka Ino, I'm here for Team 10. We'll see what you brats can do."

Sakasa hated her on sight.

Rock Lee was hot on her heels. Much ore sedate this time, he flashed a blinding smile and a thumbs up.

"Yosh! Team 1, follow me! Come, my adorable students!" he cried.

Something deep inside Aya shrivelled and died. She had a sneaking suspicion that it was the last of her dignity. She, Kaito, and Renji moved towards their new sensei, steadfastly ignoring the waves of pity being broadcast their way.

When they got outside, Lee-sensei pointed off into the distance and cried out, "To training ground 7!" He then vanished noiselessly.

"Bowl-cut hair. Freakish eyebrows. Green spandex. Orange legwarmers... That is my sensei." Aya murmured disbelievingly.

"Maybe we should just not go meet him," Kaito offered timidly.

Renji's cold white eyes fell on him, giving him a cursory glance before looking away. He was silent for a moment, then said, "I must become a shinobi as quickly as possible. Even if it has to be under this buffoon who can teach me nothing. I will just put up with it and advance through the ranks as quickly as possible. You two of course are free to do as you wish." With that he turned and walked away. Inside though, he desperately hoped that they would come with him. He wasn't sure he could face his new sensei alone.

Kaito and Aya stood silently for a moment. For just a second, Aya almost turned around and went home to wait for next year, but then she slumped down and trudged after Renji, followed quickly by Kaito

A.N. Poor Lee! He's not really good at making a first impression, is he? I know this chapter leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but I planned on answering them slowly over the course of the story, so hang tight!

Please review. Please?


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hope for the Future**_

And How It Died

Team 1 - Rock Lee

Owaru Kaito- Extremely low chakra reserves. Uses mainly kenjutsu.

Hyuuga Renji- Typical Hyuuga. Attitude problem. NOT a genius.

Nekora Aya- Comes from a clan that bonds with cats. Uses swords.

Team 6 - Inuzuka Kiba

Ginnosuke Suu- Comes from a civilian family. Very determined.

Karasu- Origins unknown. Wears a hood and hitai-ate over eyes.

Akimichi Kaneshiro- Looks more brawny than fat. Unfortunate bully mentality.

Team 10 - Yamanaka Ino

Kazuhiko Yuki- Second generation ninja. No unique techniques.

Yumeryu Pyon- Clan focuses mainly on genjutsu. Excellent at illusions

Huouji Sakasa- Uses clan jutsu to focus destructive chakra to hands.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, what in the world would I be doing _HERE?!_

--

Chapter 2

--

"Ah, here are my adorable students now!" Lee-sensei burst out enthusiastically. All three glared silently.

_"Adorable? What gives him the right to call me adorable? I'm _not _adorable. I'm fierce! Right Si?" _Aya thought. Si however sulked and refused to answer.

_"Adorable? Oh that is so weird. I hope my sensei isn't some kind of pedophile. I mean, the spandex and everything... but no. They would never let a pervert teach children,"_ Kaito thought confidently.

_"Hn,"_ thought Renji.

"Before doing anything else, we should get to know each other better, so let's introduce ourselves! I am Rock Lee, Konoha's handsome blue beast! I love training, all food, and the beautiful Haruno-san! My goal --" here his silly, love-struck expression became devastatingly sorrowful, "Is to honor Gai-sensei's memory."

He stood silent for a moment, brooding, then snapped back to attention, his goofy grin back in place.

"You next!" he beamed, pointing at the Hyuuga. Renji gave him a glare that would have stricken a lesser man stone dead.

"My name is Hyuuga Renji," he began in a slow monotone voice. "I like training and getting stronger. My goal... is to... become the strongest Hyuuga ever!" he finished, losing his composure near the end. He sat back and folded his arms, regretting his outburst. Lee-sensei beamed and gave him what was commonly known as the "Nice Guy Pose." Renji shuddered.

"Now you!" he said, pointing at Aya. She echoed Renji's earlier poisonous glare, and reluctantly began.

"My name is Nekora Aya, from the Nekora clan. I like my swords and my cat, Si." Si made a rusty purring noise from behind her. "I _don't_ like my clan being compared to those nasty Inuzuka's and their grungy _dogs_!!!" she spat, baring her pointy teeth. "My goal is to master all of my clans taijutsu and ninjutsu, and be the best ever at them!" she finished proudly.

Kaito squirmed painfully. More so than ever, he felt weak and insignificant. And now he realized he was boring!

"Now you!" Lee-sensei beamed at him. Kaito looked up at the round eyes of his sensei, and was surprised to see sympathy and understanding in them. In his teammates faces however, he saw only boredom and disdain.

He dropped his head, letting his sandy hair cover his eyes, and muttering quietly, introduced himself.

"My name is Owaru Kaito. I like pocky, I dislike Dango and...mean people. My goal is to become a good shinobi," he said as fast as he could.

"Very good! We are done for today, but we will be meeting here at five o'clock tomorrow morning for your genin exam!" Lee said happily.

"Lee-sensei, we've already taken our genin exams!" Aya objected.

"No no no!" Lee-sensei said sternly. Everybody stepped back in surprise at the sudden change. With his thick eyebrows drawn over his narrowed eyes, the disapproving look on his face, and his admittedly intimidating height, he looked practically frightening, green spandex regardless!

"No, that exam is designed to weed out those who have no chance at becoming shinobi." Here Lee-sensei's jaw clenched, and real anger sparked in his eyes. He composed himself quickly though.

"Tomorrow's test is the real deal, so come prepared. I'm not gonna go easy on you guys! Let the fire of your youth burn bright, and you cannot fail!"

And just like that, he disappeared.

Kaito didn't move as the others left, one stoic, the other muttering curse words. He was devastated. Another exam, presumably harder than the first?

He'd had such hopes too

He trudged home, his woes and sorrows taking the form of his own personal storm cloud, raining on him enthusiastically.

--

When they reached the training ground at five o'clock sharp the next morning, all three in various stages of not-awake, their eccentric sensei was nowhere to be found.

Slowly beginning to come out of her almost catatonic state, Aya took note of almost 20 piles of splinters and sawdust scattered around the field. She rubbed her eyes and stared at them blearily, wondering at their purpose.

"YOSH!" guess-who bellowed from behind them. All three jumped and screamed, even Renji. Kaito managed to notice that the normally stoic boy had an unusually high-pitched scream. He carefully filed that knowledge away as potential blackmail.

Composing himself quickly, and hoping the others had been too busy screaming themselves to notice him, Renji re-examined his new sensei, and once again found him lacking. The man was clearly a loss in stealth, he had to be over five feet tall, and with that green spandex and those orange leg-warmers, he must have been visible from a mile away.

"So what exactly is this test that we've heard so little about?" Aya asked, unimpressed with the extended silence.

Suddenly, both Lee-sensei's thumb and his big grinning face were invading her personal space. She backpedaled hastily.

"Excellent question Aya-san!" Lee-sensei bawled out. "The test is… To be able to strike me in hand to hand combat!" he declaimed happily. Kaito's head jerked up, wild hope filling his eyes.

"I will not attack or block, just dodge. If you manage to hit me, you pass!" Lee finished. His sparkling grin took up so much room on his face that his eyes were forced shut.

"That's _it?!!_" Aya cried out in disbelief. She hefted herself off the ground. "Piece of cake!"

But before she could take another step, Renji was in front of her.

"I will go first," he informed her. Aya huffed indignantly, but happened to catch a glance at Si, who had yet to wake up, and decided it was probably for the best.

Lee sighed in disappointment. They were already going about it wrong.

Renji stepped in front of Lee-sensei with a positively glacial scowl, and said in a spiteful voice, "You have no chance of dodging any of my attacks. No one can dodge the Hugo's Gentle Fist. You are wasting time for both of us." With that, he settled into his stance, and leapt forward.

Only to have Lee-sensei dodge the attack by leaning to the left. He didn't even have to move his feet.

Renji pumped more chakra into his fists and aimed a solid jab at Lee-sensei's stomach, who doubled over backwards, letting the attack sail over him harmlessly, and then snapped back into place. All without moving his feet once.

This continued on for a few minutes, Renji striking as fast as he could only to have Lee twist and contort like a snake with his feet firmly planted on the ground, leaving Renji sailing past him harmlessly.

Just barely containing his fury, he backed off. Forcing himself to calm down, he curved his hands into the familiar seal and shouted, "Byakuugan!" He had not thought he would need to use his bloodline.

"Eight trigrams, Sixty-four palm technique!" he called out, leaping forward. It was only thanks to his Byakuugan that he was able to even see a vague greenish blur as his sensei vanished. Then the blur entered his blind-spot. Panicked, Renji whirled around, but Lee-sensei moved too, staying firmly in his blind-spot.

_How can he possibly be able to move that fast?!_ Renji wondered frantically, still spinning. Finally, he leapt away.

"How do you know about the Byakuugan's weakness?" he demanded, almost incoherent with outrage.

Lee-sensei bounced up, punching the air. "I know many things! Stoke the flames of your youth, and perhaps someday you might be as wise as me!" he cried dramatically.

Renji snapped. One minute he was using a correct, if slightly rough around the edges, taijutsu form. The next he was charging in wildly, swinging his fists. He was too enraged to even think of using chakra. All he could focus on was his desire to beat the moron in front of him into a bloody pulp.

"Not like Neji-san at all at this age. He was much more restrained." Lee-sensei murmured, frowning.

Further incensed by the mention of the man he was expected to live up to, Renji did something rather surprising.

"GRAWR!" he roared.

Lee nearly missed a step. In all his years, with all his close association with the clan, he had never seen a Hyuuga lose control of himself like this before. He had certainly seen Neji get angry before, and several times even enraged. But he most certainly had never _roared_!

_Why is it that every single Hyuuga seems to have emotional problems?_ he wondered to himself.

"All right, that's enough Renji-kun." Aya called, seeing that Lee-sensei was holding Renji off with one finger on his hitai-ate, while the Hyuuga was throwing wild punches, none of which connected. He had apparently forgotten that he could have closed every tenketsu in his sensei's arm by now.

Renji gave Aya a glare angry enough to make her regret adding the suffix, and stomped over to throw himself onto the ground, clearly not in control of himself yet.

Aya took a moment to gather her thoughts, and decided to begin with a slightly extravagant form often used for intimidation.

She slowly began to stand up, her arms out to the sides, her legs unfolding. She looked eerily like a cobra rising from a snake charmer's basket.

Si vaulted in front of Aya, hissing and snarling, her fur puffed out until she looked twice her size.

"Dai Doko Henshin no jutsu!" Aya cried, flashing through ten seals.

In a burst of chakra smoke, Si disappeared. In her place was an oversized tiger. Her stripes were made up of the kanji for seals, the thinnest and most delicate script forming a light tracery on her face.

Aya took a running leap and landed gracefully on the tiger's back, simultaneously extending her finger claws. Despite the grace of her movements, sweat beaded her forehead from the strain of the jutsu.

"Well done Aya-chan! That is a very complicated jutsu and hard to master!" Lee-sensei praised.

Without acknowledging his praise, Si and Aya launched themselves into the air, all four sets of claws extended.

The plan was to catch him with Si's claws, while Aya pinned him in place (literally) with hers, and then cushion their landing on top of his body. It was a heavy damage move, and usually ended a fight. After seeing Renji's fight, Aya figured she had to pull out all the stops.

Unfortunately for her, the success of the move depended on actually being able to catch the opponent. Because suddenly, Lee-sensei was just not there anymore.

Si recovered splendidly and landed in a crouch, but Aya was weak from a lack of chakra, and was thrown from the tiger's back. She rolled to a stop on the grass, exhausted and dizzy from having landed on her head.

Her fight had lasted less than thirty seconds.

Lee-sensei's disappointed face loomed over her. "I hope you have learned your lesson about jutsus that require more chakra than you can spare!" he scolded. Then he gave her what he considered an encouraging smile, squeezing his eyes shut as his teeth twinkled. Aya shaded her eyes, squinting.

Si, once again a small black cat, scurried over and silently apologized. Aya scratched her behind the ears.

Kaito sat in the grass petrified. He couldn't do this! The Rookie of the Year, and their best kunoichi had both literally fallen on their faces before this man. And he had done nothing other than dodge!

Renji, who was already in a pretty foul mood, quickly tired of watching the lanky boy hyperventilate. "Do something, baka!" he hissed, giving him a good solid kick in the shoulder.

Kaito stumbled to his feet, giving the Hyuuga an indignant scowl. His expression of self-righteous fury held nothing on the patented Hyuuga glare however, and he ended up looking away sharply.

He walked over to Lee-sensei and sank into the basic academy taijutsu form. For a long tense moment he didn't move, eyeballing his sensei. Then he stepped out of his stance and walked back to the others.

"Give up already?" Renji sneered.

"No. But I need your help. Both of you." Kaito said seriously.

"And why in the world would we do that?" Aya asked disbelievingly.

Kaito looked at them steadily and said, "Because you'll also be helping each other. And I'll be helping you."

"We've already taken our turns though." Aya pointed out.

"Lee-sensei didn't say anything about only getting one chance. Hell, he didn't even say anything about taking turns at all!" Kaito exclaimed.

They hesitated further.

"Oh come one!" Kaito hissed, fueled by desperation. "With three of us attacking at once,_ somebody_ is bound to be able to lay a hand on him!"

Renji and Aya reluctantly followed Kaito, instinctively forming a circle around Lee.

Rock Lee was of course, ecstatic. His students had finally figured out the purpose of his test! Unlike the infamous bell test, it wasn't nearly so hard to come to the conclusion that teamwork was needed, but it was by no means easy either.

Renji moved first, striking for a tenketsu on Lee's shoulder. Aya lunged for the tendons on the back of his knees with her swords. Kaito attempted to drive his palm into his sensei's stomach.

While he was excited by their new teamwork, this sudden bloodlust was a little alarming, especially Aya's determination to hamstring him. He gracefully back flipped out of danger. Naturally the three attacks collided.

Renji stumbled back, having received Kaito's hand to his stomach. However, he was not convinced it had been an accident after all. Kaito howled and fell back, nursing deep gouges in his shins, while Aya shrieked at Renji in fury for having (painfully) disabled her entire left arm.

"Such unyouthful language Aya-chan!" Lee-sensei cried out in shock.

Aya spit out a few more profanities, and as one, all the genin wannabes leapt towards him, Renji's hands glowing with chakra, Aya swinging the five swords still available for her to use, and Kaito stumbling and swearing.

The first to score a hit was surprisingly Kaito, and even more surprisingly, it was a total accident. His wounded legs had finally failed him, and just as he was pitching forward to land on his face, his forehead had bounced off of Lee-sensei's knee.

Everybody paused to stare at Kaito blankly.

"Sensei, does that count as a hit?" Aya inquired breathlessly.

"Yes, actually it does," Lee admitted. Both of the remaining children growled and sprang at him.

The next to score a hit, to Renji's eternal disgust, was Aya. In a wild slash to Lee's head, she had extended her claws further at the last second. It was a good strategy, so Lee allowed the tip of one blade to ghost across his cheek.

Just then, a pebble rocketed past his bowl cut. Kaito, unwilling to be thought of as a useless burden, was continuing to to help from the sidelines, flicking pebbles, although whether he was throwing them at Renji or Lee was hard to tell.

With Aya still occasionally jabbing at his ankles and Kaito throwing rocks, Renji was having a hard time getting in close enough, but he finally slid through Lee's defenses in a weird, crablike sliding motion and managed to brush his bicep with two fingers.

Leaping back ten feet and rubbing his now-sore arm, Lee called out enthusiastically, "Congratulations, you all pass!" Grinning and winking, he struck the famous nice-guy pose. However, they all felt too tired to shudder.

Leaning forward with his hands on his hips he continued. "Do any of you know why you passed?"

"Because we managed to hit you," Aya said in a straightforward tone.

"WRONG!" Lee-sensei bellowed. "If you had continued attacking by yourselves, no matter what happened you would have failed. So it is really thanks to Kaito-kun's youthfulness that you passed!"

Kaito was instantly pinned between twin glares.

"That was the object of the lesson today! THE YOUTHFULNESS OF TEAMWORK!!!" he roared. His voice echoed through the training field several times.

Lee struck his nice guy pose one more time, and announced, "Tomorrow will be a training day! Show up here, at five o'clock! If we do well, then the next day will be a MISSION!"

And then he promptly vanished.

"I'm not looking forward to tomorrow," Kaito muttered, as they began to drag themselves home, painfully in his case.

--

AN: My favorite part is at the beginning, where Kaito decides that perverts would never be allowed to teach children. Ahem, Kakashi and Jiraiya, please stand up!! :)

p.s. What do you guys want to hear about more, Naruto's trials as Hokage, Lee's new genin team, or an equal mix of both?


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